Happy Friday, everybody! Kind of a short chapter here. Thanks to everybody who reviewed the last one! Love you guys! Enjoy!

XXX
PIPER

Piper woke with a start, jolting upright in her bed. She was lying on top of the covers, still fully clothed and covered in a thin sheen of sweat. Katoptris was still clutched in her right hand, and Erebos's dark, echoing laugh was still ringing in her ears.

What had just happened? Had she just had a vision of the future? But no, that couldn't be right. Why would the King of Darkness be chasing Percy Jackson down a dark beach? And that shadowy rope… It had to be symbolic of something. No, this dream wasn't a vision. But it was real. It meant something—something important. And despite all the questions floating around in Piper's head, one thing was certain: she had to find Percy and warn him. Now.

She glanced at the analog clock on her bedside table. 11:07 PM. He probably wouldn't be in bed yet, but she figured she might as well check his cabin first anyway. Climbing out of bed, she wiped the sweat from her face and took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. The overwhelming fear and anxiety she'd felt in the dream was still pricking at her mind, causing her hands to shake and her stomach to twist uncomfortably. Was that really what Percy was feeling right now, all the time? Between the prophecy and the Oracle's warning and Erebos's threat, he certainly had a lot on his plate at the moment. Had it been her in his position, feeling like that all the time, Piper wasn't sure she would be able to handle it. But to her, he seemed just as strong and dedicated as he always did. He'd even been willing to turn himself over to Erebos, not knowing what would happen, to protect the lives of everyone at camp. He'd seemed so brave, when inside he must have been terrified.

But maybe, Piper wondered, that was what bravery meant—to do what's right even when you're afraid. Not to be fearless, but to refuse to let fear stop you. The more she thought about it, the more she realized—she knew so many people like that, so many of her friends who were braver than she often gave them credit for.

The dark, chilly air outside her cabin helped to clear Piper's head and calm her nerves. The dream was still clear in her mind—she wasn't ready to let it fade yet—but the effect on her body was starting to wear off. She set off at a jog across the grass, heading to the right toward the head of the line of cabins and dodging around the people milling about in the open. When she reached the Poseidon cabin—a long, sea stone building with a low ceiling and wide windows—she peered through the closest window for any sign of life. No lights were on inside, which meant Percy was either asleep or not there. She stepped up to the door and raised a fist to knock, but stopped when she heard a voice. She fell still and listened. She couldn't make out what it was saying, but it sounded like the very person she was looking for.

With a frown, Piper pressed her ear against the door, but the voice wasn't coming from inside. She shot a glance over her shoulder, listening hard, and followed the sound around the side of the cabin. She breathed in sharply and ducked back behind the corner when her eyes landed on Percy and Annabeth, who were standing between Cabins One and Three and having some kind of argument that Piper wasn't keen on interrupting.

But that didn't mean she couldn't listen in.

"…thinking about it," Percy was saying in a low voice. "We're doing everything we can to bulk up defenses but for all we know it might not be enough. Erebos gave us a surefire way to keep everyone alive. How are you not even considering it?"

"Surefire?" Annabeth repeated, and Piper leaned around the corner to see a skeptical look on her face. "You actually think we can trust him? You think if you do what he says he'll have any reason not to run us all down anyway?"

"That's the whole point of a bargain, Annabeth," Percy shot back, looking frustrated. "If he wanted to do that, then why bother contacting us at all? He wants to be King. He's got to have something to rule besides sleeping gods and mortals who don't even know who he is. He doesn't want us all dead. He wants us to bow down to him."

Annabeth frowned. "How do you know that?"

"I…" Percy's eyebrows drew together in uncertainty. "I don't know. I just do. I guess I got that vibe when he contacted us or something. Look, it doesn't matter. The point is that we've got an obvious chance to save lives here, and you're telling me not to take it."

"I'm telling you to think about this a second!" Annabeth argued in a shrill whisper. "He gave you a day, didn't he? So let's use that time to figure this out!"

"What's there to figure out? This is literally a matter of life and death, Annabeth, I would've thought the choice was pretty clear—"

"Don't you see it? It's your fatal flaw talking!"

Percy fell silent, staring at Annabeth with his mouth slightly open like he didn't know what to say. Piper had heard of fatal flaws—a weakness each demigod had that made them dangerous and vulnerable. Once, during her first few months at Camp Half-Blood when Leo was first building the Argo II, she and Annabeth had talked about the concept. The daughter of Athena had mentioned that hers was pride. Piper had no idea what any of her other friends' flaws were, or even her own for that matter.

"I told you, remember?" Annabeth said when her boyfriend didn't respond, a pleading note to her voice. "In the Sea of Monsters? Fatal flaws are dangerous. If we don't learn to control them, they'll destroy us. My mother told you, didn't she? 'To save a friend, you would sacrifice—'"

"I know what my fatal flaw is, thanks," Percy interrupted shortly, staring at the wall beside Annabeth. Piper wondered what the rest of that sentence was going to be, but at the same time she felt she didn't need it. She knew Percy, and putting two and two together wasn't that difficult. 'To save a friend'—his fatal flaw must have been loyalty.

Suddenly she felt like an intruder. Was it okay for her to know something so personal? Sure, Percy was her friend. But finding out his fatal flaw like this seemed wrong. Part of her wished she could forget what she'd just heard, but she knew that wasn't about to happen.

"Look," Annabeth went on carefully, "I'm not trying to reprimand you or anything. I just want you to see past this protector complex you've got and think logically—"

"You want to talk fatal flaws?" Percy snapped suddenly, rounding on his girlfriend. "Tell me honestly. Do you really think we can keep the camp safe from Erebos, or is that just your fatal flaw talking?"

Now it was Annabeth's turn to look surprised. Her gaze dropped and all her frustration seemed to disappear at once, leaving only a defeated sort of sadness behind. "I don't know," she said quietly, and Piper actually felt a painful twinge in her heart at the look on her friend's face. "I don't know anymore—I don't, and I hate it." She looked up at Percy with pleading eyes, and his expression softened instantly. "The only thing I do know is… that I love you. And losing you is the absolute last thing I would ever want to do. That's why I can't let you do this."

Percy sighed and hung his head, pressing both hands against it as though nursing a headache. "I know," he said, sounding tired. "I get it. I'm sorry. I just can't stop thinking—" He broke off and looked up. "What if it's you next time? Or Grover, or Piper, or Frank, and I just… I can't let that happen. You guys mean everything to me."

"I know we do," Annabeth insisted seriously, as Piper felt an odd, guilty sort of swell at hearing her name included in that list. "That's why we're gonna stick together and see this through. I want you to promise me you won't go along with Erebos's request—not until we have no other option. And not without talking to me first." Percy glanced sideways and tilted his head, looking reluctant, so Annabeth repeated firmly, "Promise me."

"Alright, fine," Percy finally conceded. "I promise. But this had better work." He shot a look over his shoulder, away from the collection of cabins. "Look, I'm gonna go find something useful to do before I go nuts."

"You should try to get some rest," Annabeth chided with a frown. "You just fought two drakons."

He shook his head. "I can't. Not right now. Wouldn't be able to if I tried. Don't give me that look, I'm not gonna go running off to Mount Olympus. I've just got to keep myself busy, okay?"

"Alright. But I'll be checking up on you."

"Looking forward to it." Percy grinned, looking a bit more like his usual self so that Piper actually smiled. And so did Annabeth as he leaned down and kissed her before turning and jogging off out of the shadows and away from the cabins.

But as soon as he was gone, Annabeth's brittle smile faded, and she stared after him looking despondent. Again Piper felt like she shouldn't be there—she'd just witnessed a conversation she was pretty sure she shouldn't have overheard. What was she even doing here in the first place? Did she have something she was supposed to be doing?

Wracking her brain, Piper didn't see Annabeth turn and start walking toward her. At the last second she jumped and scrambled backward toward the door to Cabin Three, reaching it just as Annabeth rounded the corner and froze when their eyes met.

"Oh, Piper," she said, blinking in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I was, uh…" Piper replied awkwardly. "I was looking for Percy. I had something to tell him."

And then like a flood the dream came rushing back—the beach, Percy, Erebos, the black rope tying them together, and how it all had disappeared in a cloud of darkness. The look on her face must have given her away, because Annabeth suddenly looked startled and asked, "Is something wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I had a dream," Piper explained quickly. "About Percy. And Erebos. I have to tell him—do you know where he is?"

"Erebos," Annabeth repeated. She looked behind her, toward where her boyfriend had just gone. "He was just here, but… I don't think now's the best time." There was an anxious gleam in her gray eyes, and quietly Piper thought she understood. She'd just seen (though Annabeth didn't know it) how serious Percy was about giving himself over to Erebos. He didn't need another reason to believe that Erebos couldn't be beaten—and Piper had a feeling that was exactly what her dream would mean to him.

"Well, somebody has to know," she decided, and so instead she told Annabeth. She recounted everything she could remember—the look of the beach, the feeling of fear (stressing that the fear wasn't hers), the sound of Erebos's laughter and the power and danger that emanated from him. And his words: 'No weapon can break a bond of darkness. You cannot save him. No one can.'

"A bond of darkness?" Annabeth repeated, looking troubled. "What does that mean?"

"What if…" Piper hesitated. An idea had started to form in her mind, but she really didn't want it to be true. And somehow, saying it aloud felt like it made it more likely. "What if when Nyx used Percy's blood to free Erebos, they got, like… bonded together somehow? What if that's what the rope meant? That they're connected to each other?"

Annabeth's eyes widened. "Rachel's warning," she muttered. "She said 'the blood-stained bond'… And that she saw darkness in him. You don't think… that's what she meant?"

Piper wanted to tell Annabeth that no, she didn't think that at all. The scared look on the older girl's face pierced her heart. But there was too much at stake here for comfortable lies. As Chiron had said, it was time they all face the truth. "…I think it makes sense," she admitted reluctantly.

"But Nyx sacrificed the blood of so many people that night to free Erebos," Annabeth said with a tiny note of desperation.

Piper pointed out, "But Percy's the only one that lived." Another thread of realization suddenly unraveled in her mind. "And maybe that's the problem. Maybe he wasn't supposed to survive, and now because he did, he's a problem for Erebos. Like a liability. Which means that… Erebos really does want to kill him—to finish what should have happened a month ago." Piper felt her blood chill and a shiver crept across her skin. She hoped more than anything that she was wrong. And judging by the look on Annabeth's face, so did she.

"Piper, do me a favor," Annabeth said haltingly. "Please don't tell Percy about this. Don't tell anyone else—not yet. I don't want him thinking there's no hope."

"Don't worry," Piper promised. "You think I want to start a camp-wide panic? That would be the opposite of helpful right now."

Annabeth smiled weakly and squeezed Piper's arm in thanks. "I just hope this works—increasing our defenses, I mean. If we lose anyone else, I don't think I'll be able to stop him from leaving."

Piper nodded numbly, trying not to think that if Percy really was connected to Erebos by an invisible darkness, then it might not be long before her dream came true and he was dragged—fighting or willing—into the shadows.

Ooh, some speculation. Don't worry, we'll find out more about all this later. And guess what? Our quest team finally reaches Death Valley next chapter! A pretty eventful chapter set, if you ask me. But hey, starting next week you'll get to see for yourself ;)

Review on your way out? Have a good weekend, guys! See you early next week.

Later days,

-oMM